Araujo Leads BYU to 85-61 Win over USC

PROVO, Utah -- Senior Rafael Araujo led BYU to an 85-61 win over the University of Southern California of the Pac-10 Conference Saturday night at the Marriott Center.

"It's tough to play here. We played against a tournament team tonight," USC head coach Henry Bibby said. "We haven't seen a player like Araujo. He draws so much attention and scores in so many ways. He can shoot the three, post up and is a good passer. There is no answer for him. He's an unbelievable player. You can't stop him one-on-one. He's too big, too smart and will take BYU a long way with Bigelow and other good players."

Araujo, coming off Sporting News National Player of the Week honors, posted his fifth straight double-double of the season. The big man dominated the game and led BYU with 28 points (10-for-15) and 11 rebounds in 34 minutes of play. The NBA prospect showed his inside-outside abilities by shooting 2-for-5 from the 3-point line.

"It was a solid effort and a good win," BYU head coach Steve Cleveland said. "I was pleased with our effort and energy. We really defended them well and had very few breakdowns."

After suffering from a shooting slump to begin the season, senior Mark Bigelow has broken out in the last two games. He recorded a season-high 17 points against USC on 6-for-10 shooting from the floor, including 3-for-4 from behind the 3-point arc.

In the last two games, Bigelow has combined to shoot 57.8 percent from the field and 55.5 percent from behind the arc. Bigelow's season-high points moves him to No. 11 on BYU's career scoring list (1,399) to surpass current assistant coach Andy Toolson's 1,388 points (from 1985, 88-90).

Fellow teammates Kevin Woodberry and Mike Rose added intensity and each contributed 11 points. Woodberry dished out four assists, went 2-of-2 from the free throw line and 3-of-4 from the floor, all from behind the 3-point arc. In nine minutes of play, Rose was a perfect 4-for-4 from the floor, including 3-for-3 from 3-point land.

Senior point guard Luiz Lemes had another strong outing. Called the team's unsung leader by his coach, Lemes grabbed a career-best eight rebounds and continued to find ways to get the ball inside to Araujo, dishing out eight assists on the night. BYU finished with 21 assists against the Trojans. Lemes is averaging just over five assists per game to lead the team.

The Cougar defense held the Trojans to 25 percent shooting from the 3-point line and forced 19 turnovers. The BYU defense also held USC's leading scorer Desmon Farmer, who came in averaging 17.4 points per game, to only eight points.

Thanks in part to some missed USC free throws, BYU broke the game open with a 19-1 run in the first half, including a 12-0 run that lifted the Cougars from a tie score to a 34-22 advantage with 4:54 to go in the half. Woodberry's third 3-pointer in the final minute before the half brought the 15,688 Cougar fans to their feet, helping BYU maintain a 14-point lead at the break.

The Cougars carried on their intensity throughout the second half to get the win over the back-to-back PAC-10 Tournament finalists. BYU's win improves the team to 6-1 on the season and 3-0 at home, while USC drops to 3-3. BYU improves its series record against USC to 3-4.

Up next, BYU will face in-state rival Weber State at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Marriott Center. The game will be televised on KSL-TV.

Official Basketball Box Score -- GAME TOTALS -- FINAL STATISTICS
Southern California vs Brigham Young University
12/13/03 7:05 PM at Brigham Young University
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VISITORS: Southern California 3-3
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
02 CURTIS, Nick........    0-1    0-0    0-1    0  1  1   1   0  0  1  0  0   7
03 STEWART, Lodrick....    0-4    0-3    1-3    0  3  3   3   1  0  0  0  2  18
05 MCMILLAN, Jeff......    5-6    0-0    0-0    4  4  8   3  10  3  5  0  4  39
21 ONEIL, Rory.........    4-5    2-2    0-2    0  2  2   5  10  0  2  1  1  22
22 CRAVEN, Errick......    4-11   0-3    1-2    2  4  6   2   9  6  0  0  0  33
23 STEWART, Rodrick....    6-8    1-3    1-3    0  2  2   4  14  2  3  0  1  25
24 CRAVEN, Derrick.....    3-11   0-3    0-0    1  0  1   3   6  1  3  0  4  19
33 FARMER, Desmon......    3-9    1-4    1-3    0  3  3   1   8  2  2  0  1  26
44 DAY, Quinton........    1-2    1-2    0-0    0  0  0   1   3  0  2  0  0  11
   TEAM................                         2  3  5             1
   Totals..............   26-57   5-20   4-14   9 22 31  23  61 14 19  1 13 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-23 56.5%   2nd Half: 13-34 38.2%   Game: 45.6%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  2-8  25.0%   2nd Half:  3-12 25.0%   Game: 25.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half:  3-9  33.3%   2nd Half:  1-5  20.0%   Game: 28.6%    2
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HOME TEAM: Brigham Young University 6-1
                          TOT-FG  3-PT         REBOUNDS
## Player Name            FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT PF  TP  A TO BLK S MIN
03 BIGELOW, Mark....... f  6-10   3-4    2-2    1  3  4   3  17  3  1  1  0  30
52 JENSEN, Jared....... f  1-3    0-0    1-2    0  3  3   3   3  1  0  1  0  16
55 ARAUJO, Rafael...... c 10-15   2-5    6-11   3  8 11   1  28  1  6  0  2  34
01 HALL, Mike.......... g  2-6    1-4    4-7    2  1  3   1   9  3  5  0  0  32
04 LEMES, Luiz......... g  1-7    0-4    0-0    2  6  8   3   2  8  3  0  2  37
00 WOODBERRY, Kevin....    3-4    3-4    2-2    1  0  1   3  11  4  2  2  1  21
02 ROSE, Mike..........    4-4    3-3    0-0    0  0  0   1  11  0  1  0  0   9
05 SHOFF, Jake.........    0-0    0-0    3-4    0  5  5   1   3  0  0  2  0  12
10 NASHIF, Terry.......    0-1    0-0    1-2    0  0  0   0   1  1  1  0  0   4
41 MEADS, Garner.......    0-1    0-0    0-0    0  0  0   1   0  0  0  0  0   5
   TEAM................                         1  2  3
   Totals..............   27-51  12-24  19-30  10 28 38  17  85 21 19  6  5 200
TOTAL FG% 1st Half: 13-25 52.0%   2nd Half: 14-26 53.8%   Game: 52.9%  DEADB
3-Pt. FG% 1st Half:  8-14 57.1%   2nd Half:  4-10 40.0%   Game: 50.0%   REBS
F Throw % 1st Half: 11-19 57.9%   2nd Half:  8-11 72.7%   Game: 63.3%    5
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Officials: Bill Gracey, Greg Burks, Shawn Lehigh
Technical fouls: Southern California-TEAM. Brigham Young University-None.
Attendance: 15688
Score by Periods                1st  2nd   Total
Southern California...........   31   30  -   61
Brigham Young University......   45   40  -   85
Points in the paint-SOCAL 32,BY 28. Points off turnovers-SOCAL 15,BY 27.
2nd chance points-SOCAL 11,BY 9. Fast break points-SOCAL 14,BY 7.
Bench points-SOCAL 61,BY 26. Score tied-5 times. Lead changes-5 times.